Carburetor gas saving device



G. MILLER CARBURETOR GAS SAVING DEVICE Filed July 23, 1956 Oct. 11, 1960 2,955,615

' Fg'y/ 2,955,615 PatentedOct. 11, 1960 CARBURETOR GAS SAVING DEVICE George Miller, Scranton, Pa.; Esther G. Klein, executrix ofsaid George Miller, deceased, assignor to Harold Miller, Scranton, Pa.

Filed July 23, 1956, Ser. No. 599,367 3- Claims. (Cl. 137-589) This invention relates generally to automotive carburation, and more particularly to an improved carburetor gas saver of a type adapted to arrest the flow of fuel to auxiliary jets during such time as the main throttle valve 'is closed. Reference is made to Patent No. 2,749,- 894 granted June 12, 1956, the present invention relating to improved structure of the type illustrated.

When an automobile is decelerating while the operator has his foot removed from the accelerator, a spring serves to close a main throttle valve. The high vacuum developed by the engine results in an excess amount of fuel being sucked into the intake manifold through idle ports and low speed ports. The burning of this fuel is wasteful as it serves no useful purpose and results in higher fuel consumption and loss of economy.

While it is well known in the art, as illustrated in the above mentioned Patent No. 2,749,894 to cut off the fuel supply under such conditions, devices accomplishing this purpose have been relatively expensive, and were not always satisfactory in operation. Particular difficulty is involved in the fine balance of springs necessary to overcome the inertia of the moving parts of the device, which are normally operated by electrical solenoids. In such devices, the valving elementforms the armature of a solenoid, and to achieve satisfactory action the weight of the solenoid armature is relatively high. When the I United States Patent 0 These objects and features, as well as other incidental ends and advantages, will become more clearly apparent during the course of the following disclosure, and be pointed out in the appended claims.

On the drawing, to which reference will be made in the specification, similar reference characters have been employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

.Figure l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a conventional type carburetor with an embodiment of the present gas saving device in installed position. In this figure, certain portions have been broken away for purposes of clarity.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view corresponding to the righthand portion of Figure 1, and showing an alternate form of the embodiment.

In accordance with the invention, the device, generally indicated by reference character 10 is shown installed on Figure l of the drawing upon a conventional carburetor 11. Carburetors of this type may have a choke valve 12 i and a throttle valve 13, an idle port 14, a low speed port solenoid is de-energized, a spring moves the valving element to an open position to allow the flow of fuel to recommence. It has often been the case that where the spring is of relativelylow modulus which may be easily overcome by the energizing of the solenoid, the inertia of the armature which forms a part of the valving ele- 1 ment is not sufliciently controlled, causing erratic move- :ment of the same on rough roads. Where the spring is of a modulus sufiicient to overcome the inertia of the valving element, the solenoid is of prohibitively large H 'size.

Other disadvantages have been encountered in the leakage of the fuel from the valving structure at such time as the valve is closed to arrest the flow of fuel through the the high cost of manufacture and installation.

It is therefore among the principal objects of the invention to provide improved gas saving means in which the above mentioned disadvantages have been substantially eliminated. Another object herein lies in the provision of a simple low cost gas saving device, in which a single embodiment may be readily installed upon existing carburetors of many types to obtain prompt and effective fuel cutoff under pre-determined conditions of engine operation. 7

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of improved means of the class described in which the use of metallic springs has been completely eliminated.

15 and may be secured by the mounting flange 16 to the intake manifold of the engine (not shown). Additional high speed ports and venturis 15a may be provided, as is well known in the art to which this invention relates. Fuel is normally disposed in a bowl 17 at a suitable level so that it will not be discharged by gravity. The low speed port 15 is located at an edge of the throttle valve 13 when the same is in a closed position, and it has been found that even when the idle adjusting screw 18 is completely closed that an undesirably excessive amount of fuel is drawn into the intake manifold of the engine through the low speed port 15.

When the throttle valve 13 is slightly open fuel is drawn from the bowl 17 through the angular passage 19, the low speed metering pin, 20, through the upward pas sage 21, across the horizontal passage 22, through the upper downward passage 23, through the low speed-jet or port 15, the lower downward passage 24 and the idle jet 14. The amount of fuel drawn from the jets 14 and 15 and the interrelationship will vary with the throttle valve setting.

The device is connected with the carburetor 11 by an upper tube 26 and a lower tube 27. The upper end 28 of the tube 26 is connected to the upper end 29 of the bore or passage 23,;and a plug 30 closes the normal supply of fuel to the ports 14 and 15. The inner end 31 of the tube 27 communicates directly with the low speed portlS, and an elbow coupling 32 supports a valve seat member 34 which comprises a part of the device 10.

The device includes the above mentioned valve seat member 34, a lower housing element 35, an upper housing element 36, a diaphragm element 37, a valving element 38 and a solenoid element 39'.

The lowerhousing element 35 includes a tubular member 42 having an elongated bore 43 therein. Tapped means 44 engages directly with the valve seat member 34 whereby the lower housing element is supported upon the valve seat member. The. lower end 45 of the lower tube 27 communicates with a portion of the bore 43. The upper end.46 of the tubular member 42 communicates with a dished member 47 having a mounting flange 48 at the periphery thereof.

The upper housing element 36 includes a corresponding mounting flange 50, a dished-shaped member 51, and a tubular member 52. The tubular member 52 includes a relatively widebore 53 corresponding to the bore 43 of the tubular member 42, the upper end of the bore 53 forming a valve seat 54 leading to a relatively narrow bore 55. j v I The diaphragm element 37 is maintained in the position shown upon the drawing by being clamped between the flanges 48 and 50. As seen on the drawing, the diaphragm element forms an upper chamber 56 and a lower chamber 59 between the housing elements 35 and 36.

The valving element 38 comprises acylindrical member 60 and integral attaching flange 61. The flange 61 is adapted to contact the lower surface of the diaphragm element 37, while an opposing flange 62, and nut and bolt means 63 secure the cylindrical member 60 such that its principal axis is substantially at right angles with respect to the plane of the diaphragm element. A bore 64 extends through the entire length of the cylindrical member 60 and is threaded at the. upper end 65 thereof to accommodate an adjusting screw 66. The upper portion of the screw maintains a ball valve '67 within the valve seat 54 in well known manner.

A second bore 68 projects into the upper chamber 56, and communicates with the bore 64.

The solenoid element 39 may be of well known type, and operated by generator voltage, as'well known in the art.

The stem of the solenoid is of magnetic material, and it is positioned to be attracted upwardly or downwardly by the upper and lower coils. These coils are wound so that the current flow is in the proper direction to produce lines of force in the direction desired for each coil.

During operation of the device, the cylindrical member 60 moves to the position shown on Figure 1 of the drawing. As the cylindrical member starts downwardly, the valve 67 permits ambient air to flow through the bore 55, causing atmospheric pressure to apply to the upper surface of the diaphragm element. This'pressure assists the force of gravity applied to the valving element in overcoming the elastic modulus of the diaphragm element, thereby permitting an effective seat upon the valve seat member 34. When the cylindrical member has reached the position shown on Figure 1, the air continues to flow through the bore 55, past the valve 67 and into the upper chamber 59 from whence it may flow through the bore 68, the bore 64 to the lower tube 42, thereby tending to equalize manifold pressure with that of the atmospheric air. (Upon energizing the solenoid element 39, the same returns the cylindrical member 60 to its upper position, wherein the ball valve 67 closes the bore 55, and liquid fuel flows again through the valve seat member 34.) Owing to the fact that the resilient modulus of the diaphragm element is relatively low during minor flexing, extreme sensitivity is maintained and the relatively small inertia of the tubular member 60 is easily overcome should there be any tendency for violent movement of the same :as the automobile passes over rough roads or the like. No metallic springs are necessary, all of the resilient effect being supplied by the diaphragm element alone.

Turning now to the alternate form of the embodiment to avoid needless repetition, certain of the parts corresponding to those of the principal form have been designated by similar reference characters with the additional prefix l.

The alternate form of the invention differs from the principal form in the provision of an additional solenoid 70 to assist the atmospheric pressure exerted upon the diaphragm during downward motion, and is particularly useful in installations on larger truck-type carburetors.

I wish it to be understood that I do not consider the invention limited to the precise details of structure shown and set forth in this specification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

I claim:

1. A carburetor gas saving attachment for use in conjunction with a conventional carburetor having a low speed port, said attachment comprising: a valve seat member having an outlet'port, first and second housing elements, said first housing element having an inlet port therein, said second housing element having an outlet passage therein communicating with said valve seat member; a flexible diaphragm member disposed between said housing elements to form first and second chambers; a valving element supported by said diaphragm, said valving element having a tubular member the axis of which is disposed substantially at right angles with respect to the plane of said diaphragm element; said tubular member having an axially disposed passage therein connected to said first chamber and extending through said diaphragm and through a portion of said valving element which engages said valve seat member; said valving element having means thereon for closing said inlet port in said first housing element; whereby in a first position of said valving element, said valve element may' engage said valve seat member and open said port in said first housing element to provide communication from said first chamber through said axially disposed passage to the outlet port, and in a second position thereof to close said inlet port in said first housing element and provide communication from said second chamber through said valve seat member.

2. A carburetor gas saving attachment for use in conjunction with a conventional carburetor having a low speed port, said attachment comprising: a valve seat member having an outlet port, first and second housing elements, said first housing element having an inlet port therein, said second housing element having an outlet passage therein communicating with said valve seat member; a flexible diaphragm member disposed between said housing elements to form first and second chambers; a valving element supported by said diaphragm, said valving element having a tubular member the axis of which is disposed substantially at right angles with respect to the plane of said diaphragm element; said tubular member having an axially disposed passage therein connected to said first chamber and extending through said diaphragm and through a portion of said valving element which engages said valve seat member; said valving element having means thereon for closing said inlet port in said first housing element; whereby in a first position of said valving element, said valve element may engage said valve seat member and open said port in said first housing element to provide communication from said first chamber through said axially disposed passage to the outlet port, and in a second position thereof to close said inlet port in said first housing element and provide communication from said second chamber through said valve seat member; said second chamber communicating with a supply of liquid fuel flowing to said valve seat member, said first chamber selectively communicating with the ambient air.

3. A carburetor gas saving attachment for use in conjunction with a conventional carburetor having a low speed port, said attachment comprising: a valve s at member having an outlet port, first and second housing elements, said first housing element having an inlet port therein, said second housing element having an outlet passage therein communicating with said valve seat memher; a flexible diaphragm member disposed between said housing elements to form first and second chambers; a valving element supported by said diaphragm, said valving element having a tubular member the axis of which is disposed substantially at right angles with respect to the plane of said diaphragm element; said tubular member having an axially disposed passage therein connected to said first chamber and extending through said diaphragm and through a portion of said valving element which engages said valve seat member; said valving element having means thereon for closing said inlet port in said first housing element; whereby in a first position of said valving element, said valve element may engage said valve seat member and open said port in said first housing element to provide communication from said first chamber through said axially disposed passage to the outlet port, 911d in a second position thereof to close said inlet port in said first housing element and provide communication from said second chamber through said valve seat member; said second chamber communicating with a supply of liquid fuel flowing to said valve seat member, said first chamber selectively communicating with the ambient air during the period in which said tubular member is positioned to engage said valve seat member; and solenoid means for urging said tubular member to said first mentioned position.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Van Keuren Dec. 30, 1930 Goldi Nov. 11, 1941 Anderson Aug. 4, 1953 Sariti June 12, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS France Apr. 9, 1952 

